After seeing ads for the movie about the capture of Eichmann, I picked up a (lay audience) book about the capture of Eichmann, Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb. At several points, both the author and those who spoke with him emphasize the importance of the capture and trial of Eichmann in raising awareness of the Holocaust, both inside and outside of Israel. How cognizant of the Holocaust was the general public prior to his capture and trial? Were survivor accounts of the Holocaust uncommon prior to the trial?
I know this is over a week old, but I didn't want to leave this question unanswered.
From the end of the war until the Eichmann trial, the world obviously knew of the Holocaust and the general horrors that had occurred. Perhaps they knew someone that had been a victim of the Holocaust and so they knew some specific details. Other than that, they knew details primarily from news stories. However, many survivors of the Holocaust (and perpetrators/bystanders) preferred to keep quiet about what had actually occurred. Understandably, the survivors did not want to relive their trauma and they generally wanted to rebuild their lives. While some survivors were telling their stories and recording what had happened, the general consensus was to focus on the present and the future, not the past.
A bit of a digression here, but I think its important to point out why survivor testimony is so essential. Until this point, most factual records of the Holocaust were coming from the Nazis themselves. This was putting the story of the murder of millions into the hands of those that had done the murdering, not the victims/survivors themselves. Also, when a survivor tells their story, it can also be therapeutic (commonly accepted practice in psychology). So while it may be uncomfortable for other to hear the experiences from those who lived it, is is extremely important. Finally, survivor testimony is essential to serve as proof for the horrors that had occurred. For example, its pretty hard to deny the existence of gas chambers when hundreds (thousands? millions?) of people reported seeing and smelling them with their own eyes (sorry conspiracy theorists!).
Now as to whether or not survivor accounts were common before the war. Nowadays, rather than simply relying on survivor testimony to learn what had happened, we also have diaries, artifacts, records, etc. However, these things take time to come to light and so were not immediately available after the Holocaust. Again, many people wanted to try and simply forget about these events and move forward with their lives. People maybe spoke about what had happened to friends/family, but it was not as widespread as it is now.
Yad Vashem (the Holocaust museum in Israel) was founded in 1953 with the mission of commemorating and documenting what had occcured in the Holocaust. It's important to point out the work done by Rokhl Auerbakh, the director of Yad Vashem's Department for the Collection of Witness Testimony which was founded in 1954. Rokhl was a contributing member of the Oyneg Shabbos archive in the Warsaw Ghetto that recorded events in the ghetto as they were happening. Auerbakh valued recording events by those who lived them, and was doing so after the war. She helped gather witnesses to speak at the Eichmann trial, and she spoke at the trial as well.
So I would say that survivor accounts before the Eichmann trial were not too common, but there had been a movement to begin collecting them with the establishment of Yad Vashem and the work of Auerbakh, which began in 1953.
I could go on about the "Eichmann Effect" and how the trial was an impetus for the classic Holocaust survivor testimony, as we know of today, but you asked specifically about survivor testimony before the trial.
I know you posted this a bit ago, but feel free to ask any follow up questions and I'll do my best to answer them!
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